Patent Application
20100081117
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to educational devices and methods and, more specifically, to a Personal Hygiene Tutor Device and Method.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal hygiene is a very important topic in today's environment. Children are one segment of the population that requires repeated instruction on hygiene to ensure cleanliness. Showering without adult supervision can tend to give children (and their parents) problems, as it is a learned process. In some cases, the child simply loses track of time and leaves the water running for too long of a time, resulting in waste and the corresponding negative impact to the environment In other cases, the child may not clean him- or herself sufficiently and/or may not fully rinse off soap.
Hand washing is another area of concern. The U.S. Center for Disease Control has issued hand cleanliness standards that often are not met by children. Furthermore, adults in such occupations as food service and healthcare must observe hand cleanliness in order to limit transmission of potentially harmful bacteria or viruses.
Traditionally, parents will instruct their children on the finer points of showering technique. The problem is that the parent cannot typically be present for every shower that the child takes. Similarly, hand washing “coaching” comes in the form of repeated training as well as posted signage (at least in the commercial environment) but without any active visual or audible reminders.
Even after the child has become old enough to know better, they still can tend to take overlong showers, to the great frustration of their parents. The children may simply like to stand under the hot water until there is no more left! The resulting cost and waste of clean water can be substantial.
What is needed is a device and method that can “coach” or prompt the child or other user on the technique and timing of showering, bathing and/or hand washing.
In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior devices and methods, it is an object of the present invention to provide a Personal Hygiene Tutor Device and Method. The device should provide automated prompting to tutor children and others in the proper techniques for a showering, band washing, tooth brushing and other personal hygiene activities. The tutoring method should commence once the user depresses an activation button, and should continue presenting a series of human-perceptible prompts at predetermined time intervals until the selected method is completed. The device should include a water-resistant housing such that it can be placed within the shower/bath/lavatory environment, internal speakers and/or visual indicators, and an internal power supply. The device should be available in a variety of shapes and sizes to capitalize on several different market-driven application scenarios.
The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide a Personal Hygiene Tutor Device and Method.
The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of
The device 10 has a housing 12 that is designed to be substantially water-proof, or at least water-resistant enough to prevent water from entering the interior of the housing 12 and damaging the electronics located therein. The face 14 of the housing 12 in this version may be designed to resemble a smiling human face in order to entertain the young user. Housings 12 having other shapes or orientations may also be available.
In this depicted version 10, there is a first activation button 16 and a second activation button 18. The two separate buttons 16 and 18 would enable the device 10 to provide two distinct prompting sequences. For example, activating the first button 16 may cause the “beginner” method of shower tutor prompting to commence, while activating the second button 18 may cause an “intermediate” or “advanced” method of shower tutor prompting to commence. In other versions, the user may be provided with either additional buttons, or even multi-function buttons. Single-function buttons are most likely preferred in order to simplify the operation of the device 10 for the younger users. The buttons 16, 18 and speaker grill 20 are designed to prevent liquid penetration into the interior of the housing 12.
The device 10 has electronics contained within the housing 12 to provide audible tutoring/prompting/coaching to the user regarding the steps and timing involved in showering (or, alternatively, bathing or hand washing). The device 10 may also be provided with some element for attachment to an exterior surface, such as adhesive patches, hooks or string for hanging. The device 10 may also be rested on a flat surface.
A gasket seal 30 surrounds the periphery of the control compartment 22. The seal 30 is squeezed between the cover plate 24 and the rear of the housing 12 when the cover plate 24 is closed; this will substantially keep all of the water from the shower, bath or sink from penetrating into the control compartment 22.
The power supply for the device electronics, such as the batteries 34 shown here. Also, there are mode selection controls 32, which could be touch-sensitive switches and/or a display that is hidden from the child user (i.e. behind the closed cover plate 24). The controls 32 enable the adult/supervisor/administrator to make changes or adjustments to the programming of the device 10, such as to change modes, change type, or change cycle duration. These programming issues are discussed more fully below in connection with
The speaker grill 20 is also water-resistant and is located on the bottom surface of the housing 12. In functional respect, the device depicted in
The type selection would enable the administrative user to configure the device for prompting showering steps, bathing steps, or even hand washing steps. This would provide the widest applicability for the device into the most usage scenarios. Finally, the administrative user may wish to program the device to run the selected mode for a particular number of minutes. For example, the beginner mode could be set for 4 minutes, or it could be set for 8 minutes. In this way, for example, the child user could be gradually urged to shorten the shower period as experience and comfort level increases.
When the proper activation button is pressed or touched 100, the device will audibly prompt the child user to rinse their hair and body 102. In another sequence, the user might first be prompted to turn on the water, however that may lead to complications if the desired water temperature is not reached in a predictable amount of time.
Next, after thirty seconds, the device will audibly and possibly visually prompt the user to turn off the water 104, and then to squeeze a small amount of shampoo into their hand 106. The user is prompted to rub their palms together and then through their hair until it is sudsy 108. The device will then prompt to turn on the water and rinse the shampoo out of the hair 110.
In the intermediate or advanced modes, the previous method steps might simply be summarized with four steps/prompts: “rinse hair and body, “turn off water,” “shampoo hair,” and “rinse off shampoo.”
The “turn off water” prompt 112 is next followed by a prompt to soap up and/or scrub their body 114. The “rinse” 116 prompt is next followed by the obligatory “turn off the water” prompt 118.
Steps 120-126 are essentially a repeat of steps 106-112 (the first shampoo cycle). Finally, the user will be audibly and possibly visually prompted to get their towel and to dry off before getting out of the shower 128. This is the end 130 of the beginner prompting method.
As mentioned above, it is expected that steps would be consolidated the more advanced the user's hygiene skills. Also, for the bathing or hand washing modes, a similar approach would be taken, but of course with the content of the actual prompts being somewhat different.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
